Gilbert, Arizona — 06 March – 21 April

LightSensitive 2018, an exhibition of traditional darkroom and alternative process photography, opens at Art Intersection on Saturday, 10 March (5 – 7pm). The selected works, according to juror scott b. davis, “…range from abstract images that defy our expectations of photography to others that affirm our belief in the medium’s inherent specificity.”

Two Lumen Prints from my Finn Slough Series will be on show in an exhibition of handcrafted prints by photographers working in the tradition of light sensitive creative processes. The organic nature of these prints made using materials gathered at Finn Slough reflect the quality of life in a tiny fishing community in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada where 30 residents live in wooden houses along a marshy riverbank. The indigenous and cultivated plant materials used to make the photograms reference a community that is inextricably connected to the environment and persistently adaptable to the encroaching built environment that challenges its existence.

These Lumen Print photograms are made by placing plant materials on black-and-white photo paper, which were exposed to both sunlight and the elements for 48 hours during a December snowstorm and then processed in fixer. The atmospheric conditions affecting these prints were especially unusual, resulting in distress to the light sensitive emulsion, which can be seen in the unique marks on the photosensitive surface.

Light Sensitive will show at Art Intersection, a gallery and workspace in Gilbert, Arizona, that promotes the intersection of photography with related art forms. The exhibition runs from 06 March thru 21 April (207 North Gilbert Road, Gilbert Arizona). Opening reception is Saturday, 10 March, 5 – 7 pm).

Two recent Lumen Prints have been selected for exhibition in Light Sensitive 2018, a signature exhibition of photography created using traditional darkroom and alternative photographic processes. Both of these prints were made using materials gathered at Finn Slough, a tiny fishing community in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada where approximately 30 residents live in wooden houses along a marshy riverbank. The indigenous and cultivated plant materials used to make the photograms reference a community that is inextricably connected to the environment and persistently adaptable to the encroaching built environment that challenges its existence.

These Lumen Print photograms are made by placing plant materials on black-and-white photo paper, which were exposed to both sunlight and the elements for 48 hours and then processed in fixer. The plant enzymes and atmospheric conditions interacted with the photo-emulsion to produce unexpected results on the surface of the paper, leaving X-ray like marks on both their shapes and interiors. The atmospheric conditions affecting these prints were especially unusual — work that was set out on a cold December night was visited by a slushy snowstorm that was followed by freezing weather that adhered the prints to the developing table for an additional day of soaking up diffused light. Carefully, these prints were thawed and released; the impact of this distress can be seen in the unique marks on the photosensitive surface.

Light Sensitive, juried by scott b. davis founder of the Medium Festival of Photography, will show at Art Intersection, a gallery and workspace in Gilbert, Arizona, that promotes the intersection of photography with related art forms. The exhibition runs from 06 Marth thru 21 April (207 North Gilbert Road, Gilbert Arizona). Open reception is Saturday, 10 March, 5 – 7 pm).

If prints could talk, Ocean Shores might tell the viewer that it is a trace and shadow of purple broom buds native to the craggy Pacific shore. Chamaecytisus purpureus, less prominent than the common yellow broom, is now considered an invasive plant consuming beachfront real estate.

It was the colour of this broom that first attracted me to collect a few sprigs for a series of Lumen Print impressions made on sheet film. What remained after a full day in the sun was a photogram that would be transformed into fixed images using sodium thiosulfate. Next, the sheet film was scanned and again transformed in a digital photography space where I constructed an image reminiscent of the plant material, the residual sand and the light falling on the shore at dusk.

Currently, Ocean Shores is among the 39 alternative process photographs on exhibition in unique: alternative processes at ASmith Galleryin Johnson City, Texas thru 14 January 2018. This exhibition affirms my interest in what constitutes a photograph and the experiments, historical and contemporary, which push the boundaries and yield unique results. When I agree to submit to an exhibition, I surrender, leaving curators and preparators to work their magic. In this space, the image is again transformed when set in a visual conversation among unique alternative process photographs selected by Christina Z. Anderson.

TRUTH AND BEAUTYDigital Gallery presents Illuminations, a selection of my recent lument prints. This exclusive, inaugural Online Exhibition aims to reach a broad international audience and enhance ongoing programming at the Vancouver gallery.

Illuminations, a series of Photograms, assembles impressions of materials placed on photosensitive paper using organic materials gathered from the beach, the forest, and the street. I record traces and shadows made by the various debris on sheet film. These handmade negatives are then digitized and transformed into an illumination of their original organic form.

Eleven Sassamatt Collective photographs are in the Cityscapes Art Rental collection, five by Phyllis Schwartz and six by Edward Peck. They will be on show in their September salon syle exhibition. The exhibition runs 08 – 30 September (Cityscapes, 355 Lonsdale, North Vancouver). Work on show is available for rent or sale. This is an excellent opportunity to buy more art.

Contemplating Water is a new gallery added to Sassamatt’s webpage. It features a series of photographs made on Chesterman Beach/Tofino, BC, focussing on water in its dynamic state.

Ever-moving water is ephemeral and transcendental. As it swirls, sputters, rises and falls, it returns to where it began. I look at water the way Alfred Steiglitz looks at clouds, contemplating how “to hold a moment, how to record something so completely, that all who see will relive an equivalent of what has been expressed.”